Pingnan County 平南县

Setting and landscape

The county government describes the terrain as saddle-shaped, high in the north and south. The northern mountains are the southern slopes of an outlier of the Dayao Mountains (大瑶山), rising to 1,581 metres at Yapo Lansun (亚婆揽孙), the highest point in the county. The southern hills belong to the Darong Mountains (大容山), and the plain along the river lies below 100 metres. The Tropic of Cancer crosses the middle of the county.

History

The first county in the area, Wucheng (武城县), was set up in 361 with its seat at today's Wulin Town (武林镇). In 639 the Tang merged Xiping (西平) into Nanping (南平), which was then renamed Pingnan, with its seat in today's Pingnan Subdistrict. From 1856 to 1861 the rebel Dacheng Kingdom (大成国) held the county and called it Wucheng again. Pingnan came under Guigang in 1995.

Food, crafts and festivals

Simian raw fish (寺面鱼生), described by the county government as more than 500 years old, was added to the county intangible heritage list in 2022. Pond-raised fish of about one kilogram are cut without touching water, and the slices are eaten either skinless and dipped in a sauce with ginger, garlic, lemon leaf, perilla and fried peanuts, or with the skin on, tossed in peanut oil and seasonings without soy sauce to keep them crisp. Da'an rice triangles (大安粉角), from the old town of Da'an (大安), wrap a stir-fried filling of minced pork, dried shrimp, bamboo shoot and water chestnut in a steamed rice sheet, fold it into a triangle and steam it again. Yao townships serve guests oil tea (油茶): large-leaf green tea pounded with ginger, garlic and peanuts in hot oil, then boiled. Three products carry geographical-indication status: Pingnan black-bottom softshell turtle (平南墨底鳖), Pingnan Shixia longan (平南石硖龙眼) and Pingnan Indian gooseberry (平南余甘果).

Bamboo, wood, silvergrass and rattan weaving (竹木芒藤编织), strongest in Pingshan Town (平山镇), joined the autonomous region's intangible heritage list in 2016, and Niuge opera (牛歌戏), a dialect opera grown from Yuan-era spring-ox rituals, joined it in 2008. Around the tenth lunar month the Yao of Malian (马练瑶族乡) and Guo'an (国安瑶族乡) townships hold the Panwang Festival (盘王节), with blade-ladder climbing and fire-walking. On the fourth day of the lunar new year, Shimen hamlet (石门屯) in Dapeng Town (大鹏镇) makes a giant zongzi of 90 kilograms for its Big Zongzi Festival (大粽节).

Highlights

• Simian raw fish 寺面鱼生: Sliced raw fish tradition of over 500 years; county intangible heritage since 2022.
• Da'an rice triangles 大安粉角: Steamed rice sheets folded into triangles around pork, dried shrimp, bamboo shoot and water chestnut.
• Panwang Festival 盘王节: Yao festival around the tenth lunar month in Malian and Guo'an townships.
• Yapo Lansun 亚婆揽孙: At 1,581 m, the highest point in the county, in the northern mountains.